Shell opens hydrogen service station with Linde technology in Germany

Trade News

Berlin, 20 June 2011 – Shell Deutschland Oil GmbH opened their first demonstration hydrogen station in Germany today. It is located on the premises of Shell’s Sachsendamm service station in Berlin. The installation is equipped with innovative refuelling technology from Linde. The hydrogen to be dispensed there comes from a Linde pilot plant in Leuna which uses crude glycerol as feedstock.

Olaf Reckenhofer, responsible for Linde’s gases business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, said: "The highly efficient cryo-pump system developed by Linde makes this installation the top performing hydrogen refuelling station in the world. Together with the certified green hydrogen supplied by us, this is a trailblazing fuelling concept that will bring us forward on the road to sustainable transportation."

The demonstration station is part of Shell’s research and development programme for hydrogen technology and was established within the scope of the "Clean Energy Partnership" (CEP). The objective is to evaluate the technology and learn valuable lessons about costs, consumer behaviour, how to store hydrogen safely and dispense it efficiently to different vehicles – such as passenger cars and buses.

“We’re proud to play an active role in the research and development of hydrogen technologies in the transport sector. Hydrogen-fuelled transportation can make a long-term contribution towards lowering road transport emissions,” said Peter Blauwhoff, Country Chair of Deutsche Shell Holding when the demonstration station was officially opened in Berlin.

The demonstration station in Berlin has the capacity to fill about 250 hydrogen-fuelled vehicles per day. However, the service station will predominantly be used for demonstration and research purposes, and for the time being an average of about 20 vehicles are to be filled there per day.

"Our aim is to improve the vehicles in terms of their efficiency, performance and reliability, to boost the production and distribution of hydrogen and to continually expand the network of service stations. This demonstration station is a further milestone en route to the hydrogen society," said Patrick Schnell, Chair of the CEP.

The Linde Group is a world-leading gases and engineering company with around 48,700 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2010 financial year, it achieved sales of EUR 12.868 bn. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.